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So, I wonder how many of you remembered that FCPX turned 2 years old on June 21st.

Yup, That’s right 2 years with a number of updates and the soon to be arriving “NewMacPro” people are wondering when the updates will happen, even though Apple has confirmed that there is an official update to FCPX arriving at approximately the same time as the new desktop. Phil said it on stage, Apple focus on it in their PR messaging but now people are taking pictures of MacPro Screens on Apple.com and spreading them across social media.

Even Apple.com is telling us there will be a new version of FCPX this year.

Metadata is the new blackI am guessing most of these people did not watch the WWDC Keynote, or more specifically, the part where Craig Federighi showed the same Metadata Tagging like FCPX has had for almost 2 years at the FINDER level of OSX Mavericks. I think it is funny how that same type of info tagging was belittled and berated when FCPX first came out 2 yrs. ago in June 2011?

Yet Apple’s engineers sought to bring it full bore into the mainstream of OSX directly, wisely so I might add, so that now the power that I referred to in the first releases of FCPX have moved forward to the point that we will be using that power invisibly while you are working. Isn’t this what we all want, instead of blindly looking around the plethora of available drives with failed searches because we have all turned off journaling for external drives.

What does this mean?

We all watched as Apple took nothing short of a “ass-whoppin” in the media and on the internet about the changes to FCP when FCPX came to market. It took Apple months to add back some really basic functionality like outputting split audio tracks or using professional level monitoring and output for the Pro User. My Macworld.com review of FCPX was one of the more civil diatribes, while my comments on CreativeCow.net were something else altogether.

Move forward 2 years and that same Phil Schiller is talking live onstage talking at WWDC about a new MacPro and in the same breath is talking about FCPX being updated. The Metadata tagging originally featured in FCPX, is shown in a fully operational manner at the Finder Level in demonstrations of the next generation of the OSX.

I think that this means Apple may have something else in mind, for I see a workstation that functionally remembers where all my content is, keeps track of all of my projects, media and the assorted files that traverse my desk as a working pro. No more lost images or captions, client logo’s stay organized on the server and available instantly, content pre-identified by the associated metadata. { I wonder will Adobe meta-tags from Photoshop and Lightroom might be seen by OSX at some point }

So buckle up, it’s going to be a 4K ride this NAB, so be prepared for a barrage of 4K every where you go.

The Hollywood Reporter posted yesterday about Barco showing their 4K Projector designed specifically for Post Production use, but a small blurb in that article also noted that Sony has announced that it will shoot and produce some of it’s pilot’s for next season in 4K.http://bit.ly/YEfklP

An award winning A.S.C. Cinematographer posted that Dobly might be showing a new reference monitor behind closed doors at the show. (no link I am not going to out him)

Convergent Design released info on their new Odyssey Monitor/Recorder. It’s a 1280×800,10bit, OLED panel that doubles as an HD/2k/4K recorder that will be able to do CanonRaw, ARRIRAW and 2K up to 60fps as well as DNX and ProRes. http://bit.ly/ZvZIQJ

Lastly for today, one of my new ventures for 2013 was to spread the tech word farther than I have been and to that I have started a new Tech Blog for my friends at Zacuto.com. I will have posts there every couple of weeks and once it gets going, I am hoping that the questions that come in from readers will allow me to help explain the some of the more popular issues and questions that filmmakers run into. Take a look at the first of will be many posts over the next few months. http://bit.ly/ZpKPvO

For many years Fujifilm UK has been very proud and privileged to have supported the most talented filmmakers that Britain has produced. From the camera to the screen, from film school shorts to Oscar winning features, it has been an honour working with you all and may we wish you all the very best for the future. Long live film!